Despite the extraordinary effort expended to prevent security breaches, the frequency and severity of security breaches continue to increase over time. Digital security has proven to be a more complicated and extensive problem than what had been previously envisioned.
Most modern approaches for combating malware rely upon identification and containment. The general premise behind most anti-virus software is the assumption that digital signatures of previously identified malware may be used to identify malware encountered in the future. This strategy is not successful when the malware has not been previously encountered or has mutated over time to possess a different digital signature. Other firewalls and anti-virus software both operate under the presumption that malware may be identified by tell-tale features or behavioral characteristics. However, in practice, customized malware designed to breach the specific defenses of a particular enterprise network may be crafted in hours or days. Consequently, the malware encountered by any organization of substantial magnitude is often unique to that organization. Approaches which rely upon recognizing previously encountered malware traits and patterns are thus hobbled out of the gate.
Consequently, approaches for improving the privacy and security of a computer network are not only welcome, but vital to the health of our increasing computerized society.